Coastal Law Project

Oregon’s coast is the pride of the state, and a national treasure, but it is under immense threat from developers and resource extraction schemes. Several current development proposals could damage or destroy coastal wetlands, estuaries and rivers critical to native birds, fish and plants.The Coastal Law Project – Investing in the future of the Oregon Coast

The Crag Law Center represents the Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition and local citizens through a collaborative partnership to ensure the coast’s natural environment remains pristine and accessible for years to come. Oregon Shores brings thirty years of experience in coastal conservation, while the Crag Law Center is contributing its expertise in advocacy and law to find solutions to these issues.

Current Cases:

On January 17, Crag filed suit on behalf of three conservation groups, Audubon Society of Portland, Oregon Wild and WaterWatch of Oregon, in federal court against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failure to follow federal law in the creation of the Comprehensive...

On behalf of five environmental groups, Crag this week filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in federal district court to force supplemental analysis on the environmental consequences of the Ketchikan-to-Shelter-Cove road project...

Last week, a Hearings Officer in the City of Warrenton denied land use permits for Oregon LNG's natural gas terminal. Crag worked together with clients Columbia Riverkeeper and Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition to demonstrate the proposal's risks to the community...

A June 16, 2015 Memorandum issued by the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported a 60% decline in the population of the Alexander Archipelago wolf in the Prince of Wales Island area between 2013 and 2014. The wolf species, endemic to the coastal...

Crag Law Center is representing five environmental organizations in a lawsuit that challenges a plan to log the old-growth forests of Mitkof Island, near the Southeast Alaska community of Petersburg. On behalf of the groups, today Crag filed suit in Alaska District...

A US District Court Judge today issued a preliminary finding ordering the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to complete the long overdue “Comprehensive Conservation Plan” for five of the Klamath Wildlife Refuges including Upper Klamath, Lower Klamath, Tule Lake,...

Last week, a Hearings Officer in the City of Warrenton denied land use permits for Oregon LNG's natural gas terminal. Crag worked together with clients Columbia Riverkeeper and Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition to demonstrate the proposal's risks to the community...

What will Oregon's beaches and coastal communities look like in 100 years? How will storm surge and sea level rise impact building flooding? Erosion? Beach access? How would that future change if we were to adopt different land use management policies now? Yesterday I...

The Sand Lake Estuary is situated just north of Tierra Del Mar in Tillamook County on the Oregon Coast. The 900-acre Sand Lake is a gorgeous, mysterious, wild-salmon laden and relatively undeveloped natural area. Now, this beautiful and wild landscape will become part...

After an explosion at a natural gas processing facility on the Columbia River this week, the question everyone has been asking seems ever more pressing: is LNG right for Oregon? A blast at a Plymouth, Washington facility caused injury to five workers and evacuation...

A proposed large-scale destination resort on a remote and wild section of the Oregon coast in Curry County will not move forward without further review by the local land use authority. In a decision issued Friday, the Land Use Board of Appeals found that the county...

Last week, Crag celebrated with Oregon Shores and local Bandon area residents when the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) struck down Coos County's approval of a large-scale development on the banks of the Coquille River. The proposal would have entailed destroying a...